NEW YORK CITY-After selling off a prime Lower Manhattan property for nearly double its acquisition price earlier this year, Norfolk, VA-based real estate investment and management firm Harbor Group International LLC is making strategic plays further north in the borough, acquiring two retail properties in Times Square South and Harlem, GlobeSt.com has learned.

Observing the growth in tourism and the residential population in the two neighborhoods, HGI purchased at 1420 Broadway and 246-248 West 125^th Street. With the purchases, the company has brought its total New York portfolio to five properties. HGI also owns an office building at 1412 Broadway, a parking garage at 500 W. 43^rd St. leased to Hertz and the Esquire Portfolio, a collection of four mid-rise multifamily buildings in Washington Heights. Earlier in the year, it sold off 4 New York Plaza for $270 million after acquiring it for $107 million in January 2010, achieving nearly a 40% increase in the asset’s value.

Jordan Slone, chairman and CEO of HGI, tells GlobeSt.com that the company is working toward a similar strategy with the new retail assets. “We do believe that properties in the area will continue to increase in value,” he says.